2006 Autosport Awards summary

RACING ROYALTY DECEND ON LONDON
SUNDAY 3rd DECEMBER (LONDON): The valets at the Grosvenor House Hotel
are used to parking exotic machinery, but never had they been tossed the
keys to a Â£250,000 WRC car until Finland's Markus Gronholm swerved ...

RACING ROYALTY DECEND ON LONDON

SUNDAY 3rd DECEMBER (LONDON): The valets at the Grosvenor House Hotel
are used to parking exotic machinery, but never had they been tossed the
keys to a £250,000 WRC car until Finland's Markus Gronholm swerved into
their drive. The rally star had come straight from the forests of Wales
where he had won the Rally of Great Britain, taking Ford's first WRC
title in 27 years, and stripped from his race suit to reveal his dinner
jacket for tonight's glamorous Autosport Awards.

Caning a full-fat rally car down London's Park Lane certainly caught the
attention of west end traffic, as Gronholm's lairy Ford Focus diced with
buses and black cabs before skidding onto the red carpet.

Britain's newest Formula One driver, Lewis Hamilton, first attended
the Autosport Awards in 1995 to collect a karting trophy, and used the
opportunity to talk to the McLaren team principal, Ron Dennis. "It's
strange to be standing here 11 years later," said Lewis as he collected
the Rookie of the Year award. "I was wondering about getting autographs
from some of the drivers. I didn't know who Ron was, my dad just told me
to go up to him and introduce myself. I told him that one day I'd be in
Formula One".

Having blitzed the competition in GP2 this year, the 21 year-old will
become the first black grand prix driver next year. "I first met Lewis
on a bus in Macau in 2003", recalls former team boss Eddie Jordan. "I
told him what Ron first told me when I arrived in Formula One: 'Welcome
to the piranha club'".

"He's earned this opportunity and a lot of detractors will shortly be
eating their words", says Hamilton's boss, Dennis. "He is our best
option for next year. There were more experienced drivers available, but
they just didn't have Lewis' level of commitment."

The International Racing Driver of the Year award went to Fernando
Alonso, but the 2006 F1 season will go down in history as the final
chapter in Michael Schumacher's career. Former rival and 1996 World
Champion Damon Hill, who lost out on the title in 1994 after a collision
with the German, was on hand to honour the seven-times champ. "He has
left an indelible mark on the sport, and on my car a few times as well!"

The biggest names in motorsport were at the Grosvenor, and Jenson Button
commanded the most attention. Having accused Jenson of being a no hoper
last year, compaire Steve Ryder was forced to eat humble pie.

Literally! Having scored his first grand prix win in Hungary four months
ago, Jenson went up to collect his award for best British competition
driver brandishing a meat pie that had been purchased in a petrol
station mini-mart en route to the capital.

Legendary commentator Murray Walker was on hand to reveal where he'd
been when Button took his historic victory in the wet.

"My wife had persuaded me to go on a cruise to Greenland. I asked one
of the stewards, who was German, to find out who had won the Hungarian
Grand Prix. Nothing interesting ever happens at the Hungaroring, I
thought. He came back and told me the winner was Jenson Button. I told
him "In English there's an expression called "a wind up'"!"

The final award of the night, the hotly anticipated McLaren Autosport
BRDC award, went to 19 year-old Oliver Turvey from Cumbria. The Formula
BMW UK racer's future seems assured with a £50,000 cash prize and, best
of all, a test in a McLaren Formula One car next year. Echoing past
winners of this award, Jenson Button and David Coulthard, it seems
likely we haven't seen the last of Oliver.